"Lord Hokage, be careful!"
Four Shimura jōnin rushed to Natsume's side—
And, while no one noticed, took up positions at the four corners.
Rasa stepped back two paces with his teacup.
In the next instant, a crimson barrier rose on the spot.
"Bastards, what are you doing?"
Kurenai Yūhi found herself trapped inside as well. Sensing danger, she demanded, "Is the Shimura clan planning rebellion?"
"This is not rebellion."
The middle-aged leader said gravely, "Natsume is too young. Under him, Konoha has no future. We're merely putting Konoha back on track—to welcome a true Hokage."
"How amusing."
Rasa sipped his tea. "Lord Hokage, it seems you should settle your internal affairs first."
"But will Lord Kazekage intervene?"
Natsume glanced at Hizashi and the others being held back.
Given the stakes, they didn't act rashly.
"This is merely our response to Lord Hokage's insult to Sunagakure."
Rasa smiled carelessly. "When you say the wrong thing, you pay the price, no?"
"Where are the rest of the Shimura?"
Natsume asked idly. "With just the four of you, you won't accomplish anything."
Shimura Chūdō stepped out, pleased with himself; the situation was too advantageous to keep quiet.
Hizashi and the others couldn't support for the moment.
Natsume was trapped in a barrier.
Plus, Danzō hadn't moved yet.
By all accounts—
Victory was in the bag.
"At the meeting two days ago, did you imagine this ending today?"
Chūdō asked, elated.
"All the elites, huh."
Natsume ignored the question, swept his gaze over the shinobi behind him, and sighed.
Nine in total, all jōnin.
For a single clan, nine jōnin was very good.
The Shimura were clearly all-in—burning the boats.
"Uncle Hizashi."
Natsume suddenly called.
"Lord Hokage, your orders?"
Hizashi had activated his Byakugan and raised a Gentle Fist stance, facing off with Maki.
To his sides were Guy and Kakashi.
"The Shimura clan has attempted to assassinate the Hokage and plot rebellion. I order you to take them down."
Natsume's voice was calm.
"But…"
Hizashi hesitated. Shouldn't they break the barrier and escort him out first?
Suna's stance was clear—they stood with the Shimura.
Konoha's envoy, while strong, was too few to fight an entire village.
The sensible order would be retreat.
"Big words for someone who can't protect himself."
Chūdō sneered. "So young—so naive!"
Natsume raised his hand and punched.
The barrier cracked immediately and shattered into motes of light, scattering on the wind.
Chūdō's eyes went wide with disbelief.
What?
Did I fall into a genjutsu?
This was a barrier formed by four jōnin.
Even a Hokage shouldn't be able to break it so quickly.
Kurenai exhaled.
But she didn't flee.
She moved to Natsume's side and drew a kunai.
She knew what she had now—and from whom.
If the Shimura succeeded, she would lose the privileges of the Hokage's secretary.
Unacceptable.
Rasa frowned.
That's it?
Natsume's punch had looked so casual—
Rasa assumed the four Shimura jōnin were just weak.
He thought, I'll do it myself.
"Kurenai, go to Uncle Hizashi."
Natsume glanced at her, satisfied.
If she had turned and run, no amount of beauty would matter.
"Do as I say. Don't worry about me."
Seeing her hesitate, he added, "That's an order."
Kurenai wavered a few seconds, then leaped off the platform.
Now only Natsume, Rasa, and five Shimura shinobi led by Chūdō remained.
"Kill him!"
Chūdō glared at Natsume.
The other four began forming hand seals.
A moment later, all four were kicked flying—landing on Hizashi's side.
Chūdō's heart lurched.
He hadn't even seen Natsume move.
A surge of danger washed over him.
He leaped off the platform, leaving Natsume to Rasa—and wherever Danzō lurked.
Chūdō regrouped with the Shimura clan.
Battle erupted at once.
"OO-RAH! Leaf Whirlwind!"
Might Guy surged forward in a green gale.
Kakashi bared his Sharingan and formed hand seals.
Kunai Raikiri!
He compressed Raikiri into a kunai and, at extreme speed, shot past Guy, straight into a shinobi ahead.
Blood sprayed.
"Kakashi! Our youthful rivalry starts now!"
Guy didn't mind the stolen kill; he got even more fired up.
Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!
Chūdō countered at once.
He inhaled deeply and spat a cluster of wind bullets.
"Watch out!"
Kurenai warned.
Her hands flashed through signs—genjutsu.
The attacker's vision swam—and a huge tree wrapped him up.
Kurenai appeared above him and drove a kunai into his neck.
Her genjutsu was nothing to Uchiha Itachi, but among jōnin it was top-tier.
Most shinobi would fall for it.
Seeing the Shimura falter—
Maki narrowed his eyes and joined the fray without hesitation.
Wind Style: Blade of Wind!
Chakra sharpened at his fingertips, forming an ultra-thin circular blade about twenty centimeters across.
In the original, Gekkō was one-shotted by this jutsu.
Maki flicked it; the blade flew at a speed beyond the naked eye straight at Kakashi.
Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!
No way Kakashi would ignore Maki.
He reacted as his hands sealed.
Chakra surged into the ground—a dog-head-engraved earth wall rose.
The wind blade paused two seconds, then cut through.
Screeching birdsong rang out.
Raikiri!
Wind met lightning—shockwaves blasted outward.
"Konoha's number one technician lives up to the name."
Maki grew serious—
Then pressed a fierce assault on Kakashi.
The surrounding battles didn't spill onto the platform.
"Lord Hokage, you're young, but your composure is impressive—still sitting tight?"
Rasa was a little surprised.
"Likewise."
Natsume smiled. "Lord Kazekage, still not moving? What are you waiting for? Just call out your jinchūriki."
"You know?"
Rasa's eyes narrowed, a bad feeling rising.
If Natsume even guessed the jinchūriki's presence, he'd anticipated the trap.
Stepping into it anyway—
Either a fool, or confident.
Natsume was clearly not the former.
Uneasy, Rasa smashed the cup.
Sand Coffin!
Torrents of sand erupted from the ground, spiraling up to engulf the two of them.
Rasa frowned.
He knew it was Gaara's way—but the indiscriminate nature still irked him.
I'm your father, you know.
Rasa waved; a hole opened in the sand wall before him, and he stepped out—
Leaving Natsume submerged.
"Die!"
Gaara's face twisted with killing lust, staring in manic excitement.
Rasa blinked.
Was it really this easy?
The next moment, the sand burst apart.
Natsume stood unscathed.
Rasa wasn't shocked.
"That's it!"
Gaara raised his hand.
Sand Drizzle!
Sand coiled around Natsume's ankles.
As it held him in place, a yellow rain fell from above—
Like bullets, meant to riddle him.
But instead of blood, Natsume burst into a puddle.
A shadow clone.
"Gaara, nice to meet you."
Natsume smiled, appearing before him.
Gaara made a tiny beckoning motion.
Instantly, the sand on the ground surged into a giant hand and slapped down.
Natsume tightened his fist, punched through the giant hand, and slammed down.
"Argh!"
Gaara screamed.
His mother's Sand Shield provided automatic defense.
He'd never been hurt—never felt pain.
But Natsume broke it with ease.
Rasa's eyes bulged.
What the hell?
He now realized the earlier barrier hadn't failed because the four jōnin were weak—Natsume was outrageous.
Wracked with pain, Gaara's body swelled and sand billowed around him, forming a round shell.
Desert Layered Imperial Funeral!
An extremely strong defensive jutsu.
In the original, even Sasuke's Chidori only barely poked a hole in it.
Natsume clapped his hands and entered Sage Mode.
Sage Art: Monstrous Strength!
He punched again.
The shell exploded.
Gaara flew back, hit the ground, and coughed blood.
"Ahhh!"
His body rapidly inflated—into a massive yellow sand form.
"Hahaha! I'm finally out!"
Shukaku's excited roar thundered.
Its fat, towering body blotted out everyone's view.
Maki and Kakashi's fight halted.
Shukaku was too big; it disrupted everything.
And tailed beasts and jinchūriki had always inspired fear.
"We've got this!"
Maki smiled with confidence.
Beside him, Kankurō and Temari arrived.
They trembled, staring up at Shukaku.
A colossus like that—how do you even fight it?
"We're done!"
Across from them, Kurenai's face went pale.
Not just her—many Konoha shinobi felt despair.
In common understanding, only a tailed beast could fight a tailed beast.
And the Nine-Tails jinchūriki hadn't come.
"Looks like I'll need that move."
Guy's face hardened. "Kakashi, I was saving it for you, but I have to use it now."
"…"
Kakashi knew he meant the Eight Gates.
But saving it for me? Seriously?
"Brat!"
Shukaku bellowed.
It looked at Natsume and slapped its belly with two stubby hands.
Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!
Of all the tailed beasts, it was the only one that learned to use ninjutsu.
Maybe because its chakra was low.
The others relied on raw power—just charge.
This led to a phenomenon: jinchūriki tended to outshine the beasts themselves.
For example, Naruto's various modes eclipsed Kurama's solo output.
The most direct example was Kaguya Ōtsutsuki:
Vastly stronger, but inexperienced—sealed by Naruto and Sasuke.
If it were Madara, he'd have killed them on the spot.
In fact, post-Shukaku Gaara performed better later on—
Because they'd never gotten along, weren't a perfect jinchūriki, and couldn't draw out full power.
A massive wind sphere formed in midair and crashed down at Natsume.
A bit wasteful, to Rasa.
Natsume calmly formed signs.
At the moment of impact, a towering wall of water rose to block it.
"That's Water Formation Wall?"
Rasa's pupils shrank in shock.
A normal Water Wall was two meters high.
This one was twenty.
Not a Water Wall—a Water Sky Wall.
By now, Rasa felt more and more uneasy.
Natsume's strength kept breaking his expectations.
He was glad he hadn't attacked personally.
Given a punch that broke Gaara's Sand Shield, his own scrawny body would not hold up.
Thankfully, Natsume was still human.
And his opponent was Shukaku.
"This lord hates water the most!"
Shukaku smacked its belly again.
Wind Style: Sand Shrapnel!
Basketball-sized sand bullets poured like rain.
"Holy—"
Guy was about to open the Seventh Gate when he froze.
In an instant, trees erupted everywhere around Natsume, growing at astonishing speed.
A desert that hadn't seen green in ages bloomed into a rare spectacle.
Forest replaced sand.
Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!
Natsume figured—if you're going for shock, go all the way.
Some might connect this to the mysterious Wood Release user from years ago—his old persona—but he was Hokage now; he didn't fear it.
Besides, his appearance and age were completely different from that persona.
He'd just graduated the academy back then.
Hard to believe they were the same.
More importantly, the Sarutobi clan had already exposed Wood Release before.
Most would assume Natsume's Wood Release came from that.
"Wood Release?!"
Hizashi and the others looked on in stunned awe.
With a casual wave, Natsume blocked all the sand bullets.
As effortless as sipping tea.
A hint of reverent admiration appeared on Kurenai's delicate face.
She'd met the Sarutobi Wood Release users.
But their Wood Release was only slightly stronger than ordinary elemental jutsu—
Nothing like the legendary God of Shinobi, Hashirama.
Yet Natsume's Wood Release could hold back Shukaku.
This was different.
"What is that?"
Kankurō trembled at the sudden forest.
"Fall back!"
Maki stared at the onrushing trees, face grave. He grabbed his two students and retreated.
The other Suna nin did the same.
Those who ran too slow screamed as they were swallowed by the sea of trees.